Bullock, McAdoo lead Tar Heels past Wake

Published: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 11:49 PM.

“Sense of urgency,” North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland said. “Coach wrote it on the board before we went out there, saying that we have to rebound and everybody has to play with a sense of urgency. And I think our guys did a great job of doing that. We were very aggressive from the start.”

Whatever the adjective, the Tar Heels (16-6 overall, 6-3 ACC) met little resistance during essentially an exercise in execution against Wake Forest (10-12, 3-7), the second-most porous defensive team in the league.

Ultimately, that resulted in nothing resembling the Demon Deacons’ inspired performances at home in Joel Coliseum – the hard-earned victories against Xavier and Virginia or the stirring comeback past North Carolina State or last week’s pushing of Duke to the limit.

The Demon Deacons trailed North Carolina 47-27 at halftime in dropping to 0-6 on the road in the league. Their most recent debacles – Saturday at Maryland and Tuesday night here – have been absorbed by a total of 51 points.

“I think we just lose our confidence quickly, to be quite frank with you,” Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “We just do. You can see it in their eyes.

“It’s something we address. We’ve tried different ways to approach games on the road. But obviously we have to play well. We just simply haven’t these last few road games.”

CHAPEL HILL – Given P.J. Hairston’s attempt to return from a concussion and an illness, James Michael McAdoo’s stiff back and the virus that seemed to be circulating though his basketball team, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he looked ahead to Tuesday night’s game and wished it was later in the week.

Turns out, there was no need for concern.

Wake Forest, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s version of a home remedy, has become an almost sure cure-all for any ailment.

And so with an 87-62 flattening at the Smith Center, the Tar Heels supplied their highest scoring total in a league game this season, while the Demon Deacons stayed true to their miserable form on the road.

Reggie Bullock (23 points) and McAdoo (20 points) combined on 14-for-22 shooting from the field and reached the 20-point mark in the same game for the first time this season as North Carolina picked up its sixth victory in the last seven games.

“When both our shots are falling, it really helps us,” McAdoo said. “I think we can really feed off each others’ energy.”

The Tar Heels, with nationally ranked tests at No. 8 Miami and No. 4 Duke coming next, built a second-half bulge as large as 34 points on Wake Forest and were connecting at a 60.7-percent clip from the field before missing 10 of their final 11 shots during garbage time.

“Sense of urgency,” North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland said. “Coach wrote it on the board before we went out there, saying that we have to rebound and everybody has to play with a sense of urgency. And I think our guys did a great job of doing that. We were very aggressive from the start.”

Whatever the adjective, the Tar Heels (16-6 overall, 6-3 ACC) met little resistance during essentially an exercise in execution against Wake Forest (10-12, 3-7), the second-most porous defensive team in the league.

Ultimately, that resulted in nothing resembling the Demon Deacons’ inspired performances at home in Joel Coliseum – the hard-earned victories against Xavier and Virginia or the stirring comeback past North Carolina State or last week’s pushing of Duke to the limit.

The Demon Deacons trailed North Carolina 47-27 at halftime in dropping to 0-6 on the road in the league. Their most recent debacles – Saturday at Maryland and Tuesday night here – have been absorbed by a total of 51 points.

“I think we just lose our confidence quickly, to be quite frank with you,” Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “We just do. You can see it in their eyes.

“It’s something we address. We’ve tried different ways to approach games on the road. But obviously we have to play well. We just simply haven’t these last few road games.”

Bzdelik lamented his team’s turnovers (21 all told, 13 in the first half) and other defensive deficiencies that factored in the Tar Heels’ turning their 32-26 lead into a 20-point cushion with a 15-1 surge to close the first half.

Bullock’s second of four 3-pointers got a soft bounce off the rim and fell through with less than four seconds left in the half to cap that burst.

“When we turn up our defensive effort, get out in transition, get easy points, it’s crucial for us,” Bullock said. “That’s Carolina basketball. That’s the game Coach wants to play. That’s the game we want to play.”

Later, Bullock and McAdoo pumped in 10 straight points for the Tar Heels before Hairston drilled his second 3 – another moment greeted warmly by the home crowd – to run the lead up to 81-47 with 6:15 remaining.

Hairston scored 11 points in 12 minutes off the bench in his return after being shelved by the concussion he suffered in last week’s win at Boston College. Williams said Hairston passed a concussion test earlier Tuesday. In the early morning hours Monday, Hairston was vomiting from the sickness that also affected North Carolina’s Desmond Hubert.

“Just going through what I’ve been through the last week, to feel the love, it felt great,” Hairston said of the reception from the Tar Heels fans.

TIP-INS …: North Carolina was credited for scoring 26 points off Wake Forest’s turnovers, with 18 coming in the first half. “To me, it was the story in the first half, because we were running and getting the ball off the break,” Williams said. “I think that was huge for us.” … Hairston said Strickland has apologized profusely for his role in the midair collision at Boston College that left Hairston concussed. Hairston said others have poked fun at the incident, including Tuesday night’s officials. “The referees even came over, like, ‘Have you punched Dexter in the face yet?’ ” Hairston said, laughing.a